In the early 90’s India opened the doors for students to study abroad and to pursue their careers there. In 1999 the number increased by 163% and from then India is witnessing a large number of students migrating to different countries like USA, UK, Germany, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, China and many more. The foreign countries have signed treaties with India and have a mutual understanding with regards to Indian students studying abroad. The policies becoming student friendly day by day is attracting more students to fly abroad and to fulfil their dreams. India has become the 2nd highest number of student immigrants to study overseas.
According to the reports given by the Government, in 2018 more than 7, 50,000 Indian students were studying in foreign schools. In the beginning of 2020 more than 18 million people were living outside the country and the number is increasing at a higher rate post pandemic.
In the year 2020 when the pandemic hit the world and the travelling restrictions were imposed, the students had no options but to apply for higher studies in India or wait till the situations all over the world became normal or apply in a foreign school and attend online classes which would perhaps be expensive. Hence the number of applications for studying abroad has decreased in 2020.
But in the year 2021 students have gained confidence to fly abroad. The pandemic situation is getting better and since the vaccination manufactured in India has also been approved in many countries, this provides more opportunities to fly abroad. According to a survey, more than 94% of students are interested in going abroad for higher studies. 75% of students have chosen the UK as their preferred study destination. 28% of students have changed their study destination to the UK. 13% students have chosen Canada and 9% students have chosen USA as their preferred study destinations.
Reasons for students flying abroad are many, one of them being better living and healthcare infrastructure which is the key reason after the second wave of covid. The lack of healthcare facilities and otherwise also the situation itself are giving a reason for people to feel that life abroad is better.
The second reason being the ease of getting Visa, removal of travel restrictions and even the policies which are becoming student friendly as mentioned before are encouraging people to fly abroad for higher studies.
The upper middle class families who have settled in the metros from the past decade are now sending their kids abroad for higher studies, as they want their kids to get education from universities which provide different courses.
The courses that the students are looking forward to in foreign universities are Management Business courses with 35% of the students, Engineering with 18% of the students and Data science and analytics with 9% of the students opting for the courses.
In June 2021, nearly 1.6 lakhs Indian students were studying in the United States and of these 70% students are preferring Master level degree and for the Undergraduate course the number has increased by 30%. In the United Kingdom, the Government has given the reports that there is an increase by 30% of applications received for British Universities for Undergraduate courses. The immigration policy has been changed which is allowing the students to work for three years after their studies. The United Kingdom and India have come together to sign a migration and mobility partnership which will make it easier for the students to fly to the UK and continue their studies and also to build a career there. Almost 1 lakh students have applied for Canadian University.
The policies and the welcoming attitude of foreign schools is encouraging the students to fly abroad and pursue a career in the foreign land. This is resulting in many Indian to permanently settle abroad and many NRI’s are also planning to take their parents abroad and settle there.
